Zexalloween Ficlets
by Higuchimon
Summary: Four ficlets I wrote for Zexalloween on tumblr. Spoilers for Zexal II within. Tread at your own risk. [Perils of an Open Mind: Tron & Shark], [Waiting: Rainbow Kuriboh], [Hoping For Answers: Shark], & [Challenge: Kaito & Misael]
1. Perils Of An Open Mind

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal  
**Title:** Perils of an Open Mind  
**Characters:** Tron, Shark  
**Word Count:** 491||**Status:** One-shot  
**Genre:** General||**Rated:** G  
**Notes:** I originally wrote this for tumblr's Zexalloween. I've edited it a little for posting here, however. There are spoilers for Zexal II, so tread with caution.  
**Feedback:** All forms eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Summary:** While preparing Shark to be his assassin, Tron finds something he didn't expect.

* * *

Tron hummed under his breath as he dug around gleefully in Kamishiro Ryouga's mind. It was an interesting place to redecorate and he wanted to do just that. Not a great deal; people noticed when you utterly trashed something and built anew on top of it. Oddly enough, they tended to get annoyed by that. He didn't know why. Sometimes what was new was so much better than what he'd destroyed. People just couldn't appreciate having fun anymore.

At any rate, he would just change a few things. The window curtains, perhaps, and maybe a picture or two. Just enough so that when Ryouga dueled again, he would think exactly what Tron wanted him to think and do exactly what he wanted him to do. He would be the perfect assassin.

The more he prowled through Ryouga's mind, the more something caught at his attention. There were dark places around here, places that might've warned most people to stay away. Tron casually strolled into the deepest and darkest of them, wondering what secrets the boy kept even from himself. He wasn't surprised to see a few memories that glistened of fire and cries of pain. He stopped to admire those before moving on, wanting to see what else lay hidden within.

The farther back he went, the more he realized that these were memories even Ryouga didn't know existed. Power edged about them, a sharp crystalline gleam that he'd seen in only one place before.

_Why is there Barian power here?_ Tron had seldom encountered anything like this before, and certainly not in this world. It intrigued him. So far as he knew, Ryouga didn't even know Barians existed. There wasn't any way that he could. And yet here that power pulsed, deep where no one could find it.

What could this mean for his plans? If there was any chance that Ryouga could break free, Tron wanted to nip it in the bud. Yet touching this power could also awaken it. If that happened, Ryouga could swat him like a bug without even realizing that he'd done so. The amount of strength that lay coiled here here took his breath away.

Perhaps it would be best just to leave it for the moment. As deeply as it slept within the boy, Tron doubted that it was in any danger of awakening any time soon. When it did wake up, or perhaps if, then he would already have achieved his revenge, and after that, he didn't care what happened to anyone. Kamishiro Ryouga could be a Barian or could be a sunflower for all that Tron cared.

He turned back the way he'd came, checking on the redecorating he'd already crafted, wanting to make certain it was good and solid before he left the boy's mind. Everything appeared in perfect order, by his standards at least.

_You shouldn't keep such an open mind, Ryouga. You never know who might walk in._

**The End**


	2. Waiting

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal  
**Title:** Waiting  
**Characters:** Rainbow Kuriboh  
**Word Count:** 407||**Status:** One-shot  
**Genre:** General||**Rated:** G  
**Notes:** I originally wrote this for tumblr's Zexalloween. I've edited it a little for posting here, however. There are spoilers for Zexal II, so tread with caution.  
**Feedback:** All forms eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Summary:** Rainow Kuriboh has been waiting.

* * *

Rainbow Kuriboh waited. He was very good at waiting. He'd been doing it for a long time. Sooner or later, he knew, Yuuma would come. Yuuma couldn't _help_ but come, not with Astral here, waiting for him as well.

He wished he could talk to Astral. Astral would know what Yuuma was like now. Rainbow Kuriboh hadn't ever properly met him and only knew what little Kazuma had told him about his son. Granted, Kazuma did like to go on and on about Yuuma, but the little boy that he'd known wasn't the person who would be coming here, and Astral was who would know that person.

Was that Yuuma now? Rainbow Kuriboh surged forward just a fraction, hoping, hoping, hoping…

No, it was just a random star shooting by. He settled back down; he needed to conserve his strength. He would need all of it to protect Yuuma once Eliphas knew he was coming.

He wasn't sure how long he'd waited. He did know that he was glad he didn't get cramps the way a human might from staying in the same place for so long. He would be as fresh when Yuuma finally arrived as he was now, even if it took forever.

Not that he thought it would. From the picture Kazuma painted of the boy, Yuuma would have been searching for a way to come find Astral the moment that he knew such a way _could_ be found. Perhaps before even knowing it.

Wait…Yuuma! There he was! Rainbow Kuriboh could see him, soaring toward this world, wrapped in eagerness and light, and tinged with confusion and concern. _This is it!_ Rainbow Kuriboh shot toward Yuuma as quickly as he could. The faster they got together, the better it would be.

He could already feel Eliphas's power in the area. Not ready to strike, not yet, but Yuuma's chaos showed up against the structured order of the Astral World, and it would be _soon_.

There was so much that Yuuma needed to know and needed to do while he was here. Rainbow Kuriboh could only hope that he would be able to do it all. He hoped that he'd be able to help Yuuma. Perhaps even stay with him afterward. He hadn't asked Kazuma if he could do that. He needed to help both of them, in various ways.

Maybe one day he'd be able to stay with them both. He liked that idea.

**The End**


	3. Hoping For Answers

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal  
**Title:** Hoping For Answers  
**Characters:** Shark  
**Word Count:** 360||**Status:** One-shot  
**Genre:** Angst||**Rated:** PG  
**Notes:** I originally wrote this for tumblr's Zexalloween. I've edited it a little for posting here, however. There are spoilers for Zexal II, so tread with caution.  
**Feedback:** All forms eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Summary:** The truth hurts. Shark can attest to that. Even though he'd rather not want to.

* * *

He closed his eyes, wanting to pretend that it wasn't there. That he'd seen it wrong somehow. That it looked like anything but what it _did_ look like.

"Ryouga?" He ignored IV's voice behind him, ignored the quiet murmurs between III and Yuuma. He had enough to do just catching his breath anyway after that duel. Throwing this sight on top of that, and then the three of them, and it was nothing he wanted to deal with right now. At least Yuuma hadn't started asking stupid questions yet.

"Whoa, Shark, I didn't know you had a place like this!"

Well, that was over with. He shoved it out of his mind and cracked one eye, hoping with every scrap of hope in his being that the design wouldn't be there this time.

It was there. Today wasn't his day.

Memories flickered through his mind and he couldn't always be certain of what they meant or where they came from. Images of the crest appearing on flags and on silverware, on armor and on glasses and goblets and tapestries. This time? A life that he only vaguely recalled and still couldn't quite believe had happened? Or some mixed up version of them both?

He wanted Rio to talk to, to tell these things to and work through it all together. Instead, she once more lay in her hospital bed, unconscious.

_And it's all their fault. Again._ He wasn't one of them. He couldn't ever be one of them. They were _Barians_. They hurt and destroyed everything they touched. _Vector_ was one of them, and if he hadn't attacked the…

Ryouga pulled himself away from that thought and tottered to his feet, breathing hard. He could feel their eyes on him, each one of them worried to some extent. He didn't care right now. He didn't want to talk to them. He only wanted all of this, _all of it_ to have never happened.

He didn't listen to their calls as he made his way to his motorcycle. He needed to see Rio. He needed to make sense out of all of this, and he couldn't do it sitting around here.

**The End**


	4. Challenge

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. **Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal  
**Title:** Challenge  
**Characters:** Kaito, Mizael  
**Word Count:** 350||**Status:** One-shot  
**Genre:** Humor||**Rated:** G  
**Notes:** I originally wrote this for tumblr's Zexalloween. I've edited it a little for posting here, however. There are spoilers for Zexal II, so tread with caution. It also takes place in a theoretical point somewhere between episodes 106 and 109.  
**Feedback:** All forms eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Summary:** Some things you just should never do if you want to live.

* * *

Of all the people Kaito would've expected to encounter at a release for new Duel Monster cards, he genuinely hadn't expected it to be Mizael. Granted, several of the people he did expect to show up were there, but most of them were off elsewhere, leaving him to inspect the new dragon cards by himself. This new release featured several such cards and support for them, and he'd almost decided to purchase a few packs when a familiar sweep of golden hair caught his attention.

"What are you doing here?" He tensed at the presence of the other dragon master, ready to fight at a moment's notice. Mizael barely gave him a look, however, his attention focused on the cards.

"The same reason as you." The Barian Emperor replied, leaning forward to examine one a little more closely.

"I wouldn't think you'd be interested in something _humans_ made," Kaito taunted. Neither of them had yet been able to defeat the other, and the chance to try again burned brightly in his blood.

Mizael started to say something, when a sharp voice rose over the background babble.

"More damn _dragons_." Whoever it was sounded fit to spit at the very concept. "Why do they get all the cool cards? They're not even that _great_. I want something I can use for _my_ deck!"

Another voice spoke up, not quite as loud, but since whoever these two were they weren't very far from the two dragon masters, it made little difference. "You might want to be quiet. I saw Tenjo Kaito around here a little while ago."

"So? Like I care about him and his dragons. I could make mincemeat out of them in nothing flat."

Kaito had barely taken two steps before he realized Mizael kept up with him. A single look got him an answer he could understand, and respect on some levels.

"The only person who stands a chance of beating you is _me_." Mizael's eyes glowed for a heartbeat. "I'll feed whoever said that to Tachyon."

Kaito's lips twitched only a fraction. "Not if Photon gets there first."

**The End**


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